frailn

Check out the Crystalfontz page Also, check this out. http://www.mikroe.com/en/tools/glcd/serial/lcd/images/serial_lcd_400.jpg

Just found this on ucapps.de So, I don't think I'll be using CAN. I'll leave that connection out and test it. I added CAN Interface to the WIKI - MIDIbox acronym page.

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the suggestion! I was focusing on the Core connections other than the LCD and didn't take that into account. Sometimes you can't see the trees because of the forest...

I'm ready to start connecting my LCD (2x40) to CORE for my first project and have been studying the mbhp_lcd_4bit.pdf and the docuwiki and searching around the forum to make sure I've got everything in my head before starting. The one thing I would like help on is connecting the 1k resistor from D3 to +5v. How are you guys doing this? Are you soldering one side of the resistor to D3, then running a jumper wire to anywhere on the CORE that has +5V from the other end of the resistor? I was thinking of jumping it over to the + side of C5, since I left that capacitor out of my CORE. Is there a better way of doing this? I understand what to do with D0, D1 and D2, but D3 has me stumped.

We Americans think all Aussies love Olivia Newton-John and dress like Crocodile Dundee. In fact, I worked at Outback Steakhouse for a summer, so I must be considered an expert on all things Australian. Do you know how many customers I waited on that would hold up their steak knives and say, "Now that's a knife!" in horrible Aussie accents? Here's a midi file for you and Olivia Olivia to Stryd: "Cm'ere you big stud, let's have sysex."

Yet another Core lesson learned for newbie! After unsuccessfully trying to build an Optimized PSU for multiple SID modules, I decided to try a different type of prototyping board. Stay away from STRIP BOARD. It's just too hard to work with for those new to soldering small electronic circuits. It's too easy to create shorts. I found a proto board at Radio Shack, and these are available on the internet if you look around, that has unconnected holes. Each hole has a solder ring. I reordered some PSU parts from Mouser, so those won't be in until Friday. I figured I had soldered/desoldered my current components so many times, that I just wanted to start again with fresh stuff. Plus I needed some other supplies, so why not reorder some new PSU parts? They are cheap. In the meantime, if you are in this situation, you can do like me and dig around the house for old, unused power supply wall-warts. I found a cell phone charger that outputs 5vdc, clipped off the jack that plugs into the cell phone, stripped the wires, plugged in the wall wart to an electrical outlet, then tested the wires with my multimeter to see which of the two wires was ground and which carried the current. It was easy to tell - if your reading is -5 volts, then you have the ground and power lines switched. If your reading is 5 volts (no negative sign), then you have correctly identified the lines. I did a quick, easy solder of a SIL header to a piece of the proto board, then soldered the two wires to the two SIL pins, one for negative, one for positive. I ran the wires to J2 on the core using the connectors that come from SmashTV, and KABAM, 5 volts DC to all the correct places on my core. I tested the points suggested by Thorsten on the CORE module page of ucapps.de. This is a quick, easy way to continue working on my core while waiting for OPSU parts to come in. I can wire up my LCD and MIDI connectors and test things out - in other words MOVE FORWARD until I can come back around to the OPSU issues I'm having. After reading Stryd helping out others with issues, I have seen that sometimes you just need to step back from an issue and work on something else. So, forget the OPSU, there are other things to work on for now. When I come back to the OPSU, I'll have a fresh perspective. This avoids much frustration. I did find another wall wart in my son's room that has 9 volt DC, 200 milliamp output. He has no idea what this wall wart was used for and said I could have it. I'll try this out on a SID module when I get to that part of the project. These suggestions are not meant to be final solutions for building a synth, just temporary power connections so I can get my hands dirty and work on the Core and SID modules, learning and gaining experience as I move along.

Grasshoppa learn! I did not know about the switching power supply issue. Thanks for the input. Off to do some searches on the forum and around the internet for another similar option.

I've been exploring different paths for supply power to MBSID - one core/two SID modules. I came across this today. The goal is to avoid building optimized PSU and using C64 PSU which are old and could present problems in the future. A more expensive solution, but perhaps more reliable and easier to put together. Link to the PSU Mouser Parts List: 6 x 538-08-50-0106 1 x 538-09-50-3051 1 x 538-09-50-3031 1 x 552-PSA-25L-201-R Use an old power cord from a discarded electronics device (I'm thinking any power cord cut from a device like an old iron or old VCR), connect it to the PSU line-in. Run the 5VDC and 12VDC line outs to SIL headers on a perfboard for connecting to Core and SID modules. For SID modules, the straight-up 12V line would not be regulated down for 6581 SID's. A 7809 would regulate it down for 8580 or 6582A SID's. Any thoughts from the experienced ones?

LOL - if money were no object, I wonder what kind of midiboxes people would build for themselves... Just think of Wilba's MB-6582 with OLED switches displaying photos of Olivia Newton John from different stages in her career. That would be the ultimate Aussie-flavored synth.

Maybe I'm just behind the times, and maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I thought these switches were way cool. Found them as I was searching around the internet looking at different switch options. Oh, the possibilities... OLED Switch Information Page OLED Switch Movie

I'm going slow on this, my first effort. I spent approximately 24 hours out of the last three days building (rebuilding three times) an optimized PSU. I took my sweet time on my first core module. and it's turning out nice. My second iteration of the OPSU put out 5v and I was able to test voltages on my core - everything testing good! Next step is to add the LCD. Then, plug in the PIC and test her out. But before I can do that.... Now, I'm stuck on the OPSU. The first version was just a mess, but that's okay. First time building a circuit from scratch. Second version put out 5v nicely and had much neater soldering. But the 14v line was putting out 16v sometimes. Other times it would put out 5v. After troubleshooting for hours, I just decided to rebuild because I'm using stripboard and wanted to try orienting the circuit differently on the board, reducing the number of jumper wires and thus reducing the percentage of errors. Well, now my third OPSU build is putting out 1v on all lines, even when it's switched off! Argh. I'll get there. It's a good exercise in learning how circuits work and I'm enjoying the process and gaining experience. I think my next step will be to ditch the stripboard and get a perfboard. Less chance of shorts and such. By the way, those PCB's from Smash are NICE. I'm new to electronics PCB building, but I can tell these are high quality. Where does he order PCB's from? Whenever I get around to designing PCB's, I want to order from that company. And speaking of SmashTV... ANOTHER NEWBIE POINTER The parts kits from Smash come with a PCB. You don't have to order it separately. Now I have extra PCB's without parts to go with them. I know, it's says it comes with a PCB on the sale page of his website. How I missed it, I don't know. But, I'll just save these for future projects. Maybe Smash will let me order a parts kit without PCB if I promise him my first born daughter.

I guess I should have pointed this out in my first post.... Yes, I do have some stuff for sale on eBay. I'm cleaning out my collection of C64 related stuff so I can pay back on the credit card bill I have racked up from purchasing items from SmashTV's store and from Mouser and other places for building midibox equipment. I'm not looking to profit from the midibox project - I'm building stuff for personal use. It may not look that way since I have several auctions going right now for C64 related stuff. None of this stuff was acquired from midibox members or group buys or MEGA SALES. (I love mega sales). This thread was started because I had contact from a guy who saw my eBay auctions and was asking questions that led me to believe he was interested in something more sophisticated than the MSSIAH project. I got the feeling midibox.org would be perfect for this guy so I pointed him in that direction. When he asked about schematics, I told him about the copyrights and the fact this is a DIY community. My communications with this guy made me curious, that's why I asked the question in my first post. After reading through the opinions, I totally agree that soldering services are in the profiteering range, unless its a labor of love for a pal. However, I do plan on turning a profit on modding some breadboxes for a couple of people that are planning on purchasing MSSIAH cartridges when they are available. Painting a C64 case, relabeling the keys, and soldering four pots and a switch seems pretty easy for the return on investment. I'll be using the $$ to pay for my midibox projects.

Actually, that particular 6582A was one I bought of eBay before I discovered midibox.org. Maybe it belonged to some other midiboxer before I bought it? Not sure. I still have ALL TEN SID's you sold me! I'm using 8 for the MB-6582 when the PCB's become available. I'm using 2 to build a simple core + two sid modules at the moment. Hoping to stuff them into that geiger counter thingy that Goblinz loves so much. :P Hey, how do I get to the chat room!?

Been building my first Core module and an optimized PSU over the weekend. This has been a great learning experience, and I was hoping to make it through the process without having to post questions or issues to the board - troubleshoot and learn from my mistakes...But, I did end up having one question about voltage to the SID module being too high...in another thread in the SID section. Lessons Learned for those truly new to electronics DIY in general and to the Core: 1. No, SmashTV did not send you an IC socket missing a leg. You broke it off when you pulled it out of the styrofoam. Don't be so rough with your IC sockets and IC's. Luckily this happened on a socket and not the PIC! I took a leg from a resistor and soldered to the broken leg, and it worked fine. A bit of a pain, but not too bad. And luckily, I was able to figure the resistor leg for an IC socket leg trick without having to ask Smash for another IC socket, which I'm sure would have not gone over well. 2. When checking voltages prior to putting in the PIC, and you don't get the correct voltages, double check your parts bag from Smash. Yes, there was one resistor left in the bag, even when you thought you went through all the parts thoroughly and finished soldering everything. Triple check your parts list! I actually soldered the diode to the 100ohm resistor area and never soldered the 100ohm resistor, it was still in the bag. Then, when troubleshooting I noticed this bare spot on the board that said "D1" - uh - what is that? Wait, I think soldered that part somewhere it doesn't belong! Now where's my dang 100ohm resistor! Oh, yeah, it's still in the pretty little pink bag. Sheesh. 3. DIL and SIL headers get HOT when you are soldering them. I was holding them to the board and adding a tack of solder to the corner so I could flip it over and then solder the complete header. Ow. Put something between your finger and that header. That crap hurts. Okay, now I"m at the stage where I solder the LCD screen. I'm sure I'll be back with more foibles soon.

Yeah, my thought process was already leaning this direction since I met the guy through an eBay auction and he is a complete stranger. To be honest with you, I don't think my soldering time is worth much at this point anyway since I'm new to DIY electronics. I thought it wouldn't hurt to put this question out there since there wasn't a thread dedicated solely to services rendered. This didn't even cross my mind! Good point, Wilba, and the main reason I have decided that selling soldering time is not a good idea. Thanks for you input.

I recently put my Prophet64/modded C64 up for auction on eBay and received an overwhelming and unexpected number of questions and requests to build more. In the process of answering all these emails, I have met a person who is interested in a SID synth more sophisticated than what Prophet64/MSSIAH has to offer. So, I directed this person to ucapps.de and told him to research. Basically, I pointed at Thorsten and sent him on his merry way. After he looked over Thorsten's material, he came back and asked if I sold PCB's, parts, schematics, etc....and I explained to him NO SCHEMATICS - the work is copyrighted and he could purchase PCB's and parts kits from SmashTV and gave him the link. I basically told him, putting this together is on you. But, that gave rise to this question: Is it possible to build someone else's midibox for them, if they are purchasing the PCB's and kits on their own? Of course, I would want to charge them for services rendered - time spent soldering and testing, etc...otherwise, they need to figure it out and build it themselves. The product would belong to the requestor for their personal use. Bottom line: I would profit from my time building the box. Not sure how much that is worth at this point. I thought, "how does this meet the spirit of this community - how would doing this give back to midibox.org since this community made this all possible in the first place?" Well, how about taking a percentage of the service fee for building the midibox and donating it to the board? Or to Thorsten or others for funding parts purchases for new development (such as a Pokey module, etc), or to as an advance on parts replenishment to Smash for his store? Any other ideas? Also, the experience gained from building could be sown back into the community by helping others when they come along and ask questions. Please know that I did not come to this board looking for a profit, I came because I found Wilba's midibox of the week one day surfing the net and said to myself, I gotta build one of those! I plan on building an FM synth, Pokey synth, and probably a MIDIbox64 all for my own use. I like this community and would not want to take advantage because it has been so good to me. If I were to make a profit from soldering boards for a guy, I would want to split that profit with the community/people that made this possible.

Well, I went back to remeasure the voltage and now I'm putting out 5V on the 14V line out. Back to the troubleshooting! I'm sure I have a short or bad solder somewhere on this stripboard...thanks for the help, I'll try a resistor after I figure out the problem on my 14V line.

Thanks! I think I'll swap my 2200uf 16V capacitors that came in Smash's SID kit for 25V just to be safe.

I just finished building an Optimized PSU for the MBSID. I'm getting 5V on the LED line, 5V on the line to the Core. But, on the 14V line to the SID, I'm actually getting 16V. I'm thinking that once the line gets to the 7809 on the SID module, it will regulate down to 9V, anyways, so this shouldn't be a problem (using 6582A SID from Wilba). Can someone confirm that for me before I start building SID modules and connect power? Thanks!

Thanks, Stryd! I learned a lot modding this one - soldering, wiring, painting, labeling. It was a good starter project to warm up to more complex stuff. I think the most practical thing I discovered on this project was that you can buy super-glue in bottle with a brush, just like fingernail polish. That will come in handy in the future!

Selling my modded C64 with Prophet64 cartridge and other gear on eBay. I've had fun with it, now I'm ready to sell and use the proceeds to invest in midibox projects. Well, actually, I already invested - I bought a bunch of stuff from Smash's store and I got get this credit card paid before my wife finds out! God, I sound like I'm having an affair. Prophet 64 Commodore C64 MOS Sid Chip Synth Music Stereophonic SID 6581 Cartridge for Commodore 64/128 Stereophonic SID 8580 Cartridge for Commodore 64/128 Cynthcart PLUS Incredible Musical Keyboard - LOFI SYNTH

:D Perfect! Thanks for the link!

Smash, are you saying there are pokey chips inside Commodore 64 1541 disk drives? If this is true, then, I've got one in the basement quivering in the dusty corner hoping I don't figure this out and come after it with my soldering iron...

Thanks for the parts! I neglected to put a dsub connector on my last Mouser order, so this was perfect timing. I just received my SmashTV parts kits and pcb's for MBSID...

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